Oskar Freysinger (born 12 June 1960) is a Swiss author and former politician for the

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...

, who served as a member of the

National Council of Switzerland The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States, represents the states, preventing more populous parts of the country overpowering the rest. As the p ...

from 2003 to 2015.

Background

Freysinger was born in

Sierre Sierre (; ; ) is the capital municipality of the district of Sierre, located in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It has a population of 18,020. Sierre is nicknamed City of the Sun () for its average of 300 days of sunshine a year. It is t ...

. He studied at a German-speaking school in Sion, and later studied German literature and philosophy, and French literature, obtaining a teaching degree in 1985. He studied at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

. He has taught at the Lycée-Collège de la Planta since 1987. He is married to Ghislaine Héritier and has three children.

Political career

From 1997 and 2001, Freysinger was a communal counselor at

Savièse Savièse is a municipality in the district of Sion in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Savièse is first mentioned in 1200 as ''Saviesi''. In 1224 it was mentioned as ''Savisia''. The municipality was formerly known by its German ...

for the

Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (, CVP), also called the Christian Democratic Party (, PDC), Democratic People's Party (, PPD) and Swiss Christian Democratic Party (, PCD), was a Christian democracy, Christian democratic Li ...

. He co-founded the Valaisan branch of the

, which he headed from 1999 to 2002. He became a member of the cantonal parliament of Valais from 2001 to 2003, and of the

from 2003 until 2015. His main proposals include the revocation of article 261 bis; hold naturalisation by popular vote; expulsion of foreigners convicted of crimes; and strict regulation of drugs. He has been considered "a leading anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic figure on the European scene". Freysinger played a crucial role in the

2009 Swiss minaret referendum The federal popular initiative "against the construction of minarets" was a successful federal popular initiative, popular initiative in Switzerland to prevent the construction of minarets on mosques. In a 2009 Swiss referendums, November 2009 re ...

to ban Islamic mosque minarets, and he participated in a

counter-jihad Counter-jihad (also known as the counter-jihad movement) is a self-titled Islamophobia, anti-Muslim political movement loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, demonstrators, and other activists across the Western world. Proponents are ...

conference in Paris in 2010. He has also been on the board of advisors of the counter-jihad organisation Stop Islamization of Nations (SION). He sees Islam as essentially a political religion and therefore subject to secular law.

Bibliography

* ''Brüchige Welten. Kurzgeschichten, Parabeln, Satiren''. Rotten, Visp 2004, * ''Outre-pensées''. Matze, Sion 2005, * ''Die Schachspirale''. Roman. Matze, Sion 2006, * ''Le nez dans le soleil. Monologue''. Matze, Sion 2009, * Under Pseudonym Janus: ''Canines: antipolar''. Xenia éditions, Sion 2010, * ''Antifa. Petit manuel antifasciste''. Tatamis, Paris 2011, * ''Löwenzahn oder Der alte Mann an der Suone''. Weltbild, Olten 2012, * ''Wabers Schwarm''. Weltbild, Olten 2012, * ''Bergfried''. Brinkhaus, Horw 2017, * ''Die dunkle Seite des Lichts.'' Brinkhaus, Horw 2018, * ''Rote Asche. Roman.'' Brinkhaus, Horw 2018, * ''Übung allein macht keinen Meister.'' Brinkhaus, Horw 2019, * ''Nachtwehen. Ein Briefroman'' Brinkhaus, Horw 2019, * ''Waterman: A Sandy Tale''. Wipf and Stock 2022, * ''Svalbard. Roman'' Brinkhaus, Horw 2023,

References

External links

Official page
at

* (defunct) {{DEFAULTSORT:Freysinger, Oskar 1960 births Living people 21st-century Swiss male writers 21st-century Swiss novelists 21st-century Swiss poets Counter-jihad activists Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2011–2015 Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2007–2011 Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2003–2007 Swiss critics of Islam Swiss male novelists Swiss male poets Swiss People's Party politicians Swiss writers in German